Hi guys, since the DB BR232 will come out only God knows when, I´m considering to get a few British routes for diving into some heavy Diesels. I´m considering WSR for a nice chilling route with a small and a bigger Diesel loco, and also thinking of GWE + GWB. What´s your take on this? Mind you I´m on a PS4 Slim.
NTP and the Heavy Freight pack are the best bet for UK diesels and giving them a good old thrash over the hills. You get three big diesels, the 08 shunter and the sublime Class 101 DMU. If that captures your imagination then GWE and GWB are a good follow up and TVL with both the Class 31 and Class 20 loco DLC will give you everything you need to fall in love. WSR is not a good place to start but is still a nice route for chilling on. It really doesn’t give the trains the freedom to shine like the other routes.
I agree with stujoy. WSR is not a good starting point for you. NTP (+ Heavy Freight pack, it’s absolutely essential for NTP) will give you ample opportunities to push the diesels to their very limit. TVL is a bit more relaxed (almost no gradients compared to NTP’s steep gradients) but lovely if you’re into heavy industry. It also gives you the possibility of thrashing a Class 37, which sounds great. The Class 31 and 20 loco DLCs are the cherry on top. Either of these two I’d recommend to you.
Thanks for your very helpful input. I´ll reconsider. What about ........ errrmmm ....... notorious bugs on these routes?
NTP is relatively bug free and holds up well with saved games too. The Class 45 (IMHO) is still the best UK traction in the game, looks, sounds and physics. It’s not the fastest route, most of the time you will be running at no more than 60 MPH, but there are plenty of gradients and speed changes to keep your attention. TVL is another UK classic diesel route but suffers from some scenarios and Journey mode not being completable. That also extends to the Class 20 and Class 31 add ons. A little gem is the more modern SEHS, the Class 395 is quite pleasant to drive and combines a section of frantic high speed dash with a slower paced all stations section. I tend to agree re WSR. It might be better with a steam loco but it’s a boring trundle with the diesels, some of the scenarios are bugged and the save game falls down often. For a quick urban run you might also consider Cathcart Circle.
I agree with what others here have said but don’t forget WCL. It’s a great route with plenty of gradients ( It really is quite up and down hilly, all the better for working those diesels. ) great scenery and isn’t boringly straight like the GWR dlc. The two main trains in it are the Class 150 and Class 37 but if you own the others dc’s mentioned here already some nice diesels are subbed in for free. WCL has fast become a favourite dlc of mine for driving BR era diesels, despite some being quite negative about it?? I play it quite a lot tbh and apparently it’s great to scenario plan a Puffing Billy onto it which I can’t vouch for because I haven’t taken the plunge with SOS yet. But yeah! WCL is definitely well worth getting imo
Concur with all that's been said previously. NTP is a must, as OldVern says the 45 is one of the best loco's in TSW (just a shame we're missing named examples- but that goes for the 47 as well.) Add the Freight pack and you can whistle (class 40) your way through the Pennine hills or take it easy with the 08 up and down Red Bank. As for the 101 DMU, as stujoy states simply 'sublime' perfectly sums it up! All in all, personally speaking, I rate it as the best UK route but that may be biased as it based around when I was growing up in Manchester as a boy, mind due it's a lot cleaner that I remember Victoria! Similarly TVL again gives you the opportunity to experience 'similar classic' traction with the 37 and 08 and, if you purchase both the 20 and the 31 you get yet more goodness! All are unique with their own nuances to master (31 brakes anyone!) and well worth the price. WSR is a Sunday morning route for when you've a hangover and just want to chill, slow and steady and little in the way to stress you. In summary, there's little in the way of wrong by choosing any of the above mentioned routes. You'll get value for money out of any of them.
I agree with ntp and tvl. Ntp has the 45, 47 and the 101. Heavy freight pack for ntp gives you the 08 and the 40. All very good locos. Tvl gives you the 101, 37 and the 08. You can also get the 20 and 31 as dlc which are also really good Gwe is also good with the hst and the now improved 166. You also get the 66. Also gwe looks beautiful with the new preserved update. Diesel legends gives you the 101, 52 and the 08. You can go fast and enjoy the thrash. Wcl is also a nice route with the 150 and 37 Now, idk whether you get layers or not on ps4 since I don't play on console. I know you don't get it on certain routes but that's all
Thanks to everybody for sharing your opinions. I´ll go for NTP + Heavy Freight pack, maybe later for GWE + GWB. Now waiting for sales .........EoSummer, Christmas, Valentine´s Day 2030, who knows?
So, I´ve followed your advise and went shopping. With current sales in place, not only NTP + Heavy Freight Pack was purchased, but also a few other british routes and diesel locos. (Well plus LGV for being really cheap, but it doesn´t count). Just love the 40,45,47, 08, 09 .............. ALTHOUGH, I wasn´t expecting that farting asthmatic tractor sound?! A web search reveals: They really sounded like this?! Hmmmm.... Now, A real gem is the Class 101, really funny to drive changing gears, but I still need some time with these brakes, either overshooting or stopping short. More difficult to master than the 363 brakes. The passengers must hate me by now. Thanks again for your hints!
Something that helped me a great deal is to be aware of the characteristics of cast iron brakes: They brake hard at slow speeds and fade very quickly as speed increases. Therefore, you can slam them on rather harshly at speed but need to make sure to slowly release them again to a lighter application as speed decreaes. The 101s are always a challenge for me to brake right but keeping these characteristics in mind and acting accordingly made it much simpler for me.
If your looking for Big heavy diesels may I suggest NTP. Just recently started playing the route again and I’ve realised how fun it is to drive that route again
Thanks, NTP + Heavy Freight Pack was the first buy. And, indeed, there´s lot of fun. Got also TVL and GWE. Just need some more time in my hands to try them out.
Advice if you fancy looking at TVL is to check out the country packs! The British one comes with TVL, the 20 and 31 DLC packs with TSW2 for about 26 quid! Might seem silly buying TSW2 again but you'd still be getting a route and its associated DLC for a little more than the route on its own saving you almost 20 quid over buying them as seperates
I actually DID purchase the UK Edition plus a few other DLCs. I´m still in doubt if SEHS, WCL and GCC are worth a consideration?
Can't comment on WCL or GCC but I do own SEHS. I'm assuming you're still trying to get into big diesels? If so, SEHS doesn't offer anything for you unless you own ECW, in which case the Class 66 gets a few services. Those are quite good actually but I would not say it's worth the price of two routes unless both are heavily discounted. I quite like SEHS but it doesn't have any big diesels for you apart from the ECW Class 66.
For Cathcart and SEHS, East Coastway is required for freight services but those are limited, and both of those routes have scenery issues, particularly SEHS which is among the worst routes in the game. West Cornwall Local does come with the Class 37 but the pack overall is buggy and ugly. In summary, the three packs you mention are not worth buying.
On Cathcart there is just one freight service with Class 66, if you own ECW. It goes on 4:35 in the morning, means there is no other trains on the route as 314 timetable services starts somewhere around 6 o'clock. I haven't run it, but just by looking at it, it seems that you could create such scenario by yourself in Scenario Designer: straight A - > B run, no other trains, not worth your time.
I've enjoyed all the British routes. Cornwall Local is the worst scenically, but still worth having for the DMU and 37. SEHS has good local stopping services even if the high speed section is poorly modelled.
So, I´ve followed all your hints and tips. And I´m having quite fun with most of the british routes. I fell in love with the Class 33 which, unfortunately, seems to run only on WSR. Is there any other route where the Class 33 is available? Mind you I´m on PS4.
Yes sure. But it´s quite the PITA with a PS4 controller. Luckily I found already some scenarios on CC. Thanks to the creators.